I love to see things go viral. I also love when those viral things have to do with pet adoption. A couple of weeks ago a new video came out on YouTube from the Nevada Humane Society. I was not the first to see it. I don’t usually make my way to YouTube unless I’m looking for something specific. Things like ways to train your dog or a new cat breed. When I saw the video on facebook I knew that it was going to take off. I was the 437th person to view it. Since then it’s had over 58,000 views. Sweet!

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What I really like about the video is that it’s fun. Sure, it’s a spoof on the wedding video dance. That just makes it familiar. It shows that shelters are a fun place to be. They’re not the sad places that have animals stuck behind cages, waiting to die. Adopting is a fun experience that people look forward to.

The honest truth is that I’ve been to very few shelters in my life. Most of the cats and dogs that I’ve had the pleasure to live with are animals that we’ve found. It’s not that shelters are a bad place, it’s just that I’ve always found them sad. I always felt that I would feel so sorry for the animals that going there would just break my heart.

One of the most important aspects of this video is how it takes the stigma off shelters and shelter pets. It’s true that these animals may not start out lucky, but there’s nothing wrong with them. They just need love and compassion.

I feel that in looking for a way to raise money, a lot of shelters have played the pity card. It might work to raise money, but there are potential risks with making these pets seem undesirable.

And that’s one of the reasons that I really, really love this video. If I could, I would go to Nevada and check it out. They make adoption fun. How much more desirable can you make a dog than precede his adoption with all that pomp and circumstance?